Photo browse and zoom

ABSTRACT

Groups of photo thumbnails are presented to the user, and where a user selects one of the thumbnails, a transition is provided replacing the group of thumbnails with the photo represented by the selected thumbnail. The photo may be displayed without cropping or stretching. In addition, a zoom/enlargement animation of the selected thumbnail is provided, and also possibly of the remaining thumbnails in the group, which then transitions into the represented photo. In addition, after or during the zooming animation, a cross-fading may occur such that the thumbnails fade out and the represented photo fades in. These types of transitions and user inputs both while the user is manually browsing thumbnails and when the user is viewing an automated slideshow of the thumbnails.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/347,584, filed on Feb. 6, 2006, entitled “PHOTO BROWSE AND ZOOM”, theentirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

With the growing popularity of digital cameras, photos are more commonlystored electronically on computers instead of physically on paper. Userinterfaces have been developed to allow a user to manage and view his orher photos electronically. As part of these user interfaces, the usersometimes has the option of viewing photos as smaller, thumbnailversions.

In addition, the user is sometimes presented with the option of choosinga particular layout in which the photo thumbnails are arranged forviewing. For instance, a user may view a tiled layout where thethumbnails are arranged in rows and columns, or as a stacked view. Inmany such thumbnail layouts, the thumbnail versions of the photos aretreated, such as by cropping and/or stretching, so as to fit within aparticular frame size and shape. It is difficult for the user to easilygain an appreciation for what the associated photo will look like fromthe treated thumbnail.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to presenting photorepresentations, such as thumbnail versions of the photos theyrepresent, in one or more groups, or slides. Each group may have one ormore such thumbnails. Where a user selects one of the thumbnails, atransition is provided to replace the group of thumbnails with the photothat is represented by the selected thumbnail. The photo may bedisplayed in its entirety, such that there is no cropping of the photo.In addition, the photo may be displayed such that there is no stretchingto fit the region in which it is displayed.

Further aspects are directed to providing a zoom/enlargement animationof the selected thumbnail, and also possibly of the remaining thumbnailsin the group, which then transitions into the represented photo. Inaddition, after or during the zooming animation, a cross-fading mayoccur such that the thumbnails fade out and the represented photo fadesin.

Further aspects are directed to allowing the user to select thedisplayed full photo to return to the thumbnail group view. Or, thecomputer may automatically return the user to the thumbnail group viewupon the expiration of a time period in which the user has not selectedthe full photo.

Still further aspects are directed to providing these types oftransitions and user inputs both while the user is manually browsingthumbnails and when the user is viewing an automated slideshow of thethumbnails.

These and other aspects of the disclosure will be apparent uponconsideration of the following detailed description of illustrativeembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofillustrative embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, which are included by way of example,and not by way of limitation with regard to the claimed invention.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an illustrative computingenvironment.

FIG. 2 is a screenshot of an illustrative plurality of mantel viewgroups.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are screenshots showing the content of one of the groupsof FIG. 2 animating to increase in size.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are screenshots showing the content of one of the groupsof FIG. 2 cross-fading into an associated uncropped photo.

FIG. 7 is a screenshot of an illustrative magazine view groups.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are screenshots showing one of the photo representationsof FIG. 7 animating to increase in size.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are screenshots showing the content of one of the groupsof FIG. 7 cross-fading into an associated uncropped photo.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Illustrative ComputingEnvironment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment100 in which aspects as described herein may be implemented. Computingsystem environment 100 is only one example of a suitable computingenvironment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to thescope of use or functionality of various aspects as described herein.Neither should computing system environment 100 be interpreted as havingany dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination ofcomponents illustrated in illustrative computing system environment 100.

One or more other general purpose or special purpose computing systemenvironments or configurations may be used. Examples of well knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable include, but are not limited to, personal computers (PCs);server computers; hand-held and other portable devices such as personaldigital assistants (PDAs), tablet PCs or laptop PCs; multiprocessorsystems; microprocessor-based systems; set top boxes; programmableconsumer electronics; network PCs; minicomputers; mainframe computers;distributed computing environments that include any of the above systemsor devices; and the like.

Aspects of the disclosure herein may be described in the general contextof computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, stored onone or more computer-readable media and executable by a computer.Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Embodiments discussed hereinmay also be operational with distributed computing environments wheretasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked througha communications network. In a distributed computing environment,program modules may be located in both local and remotecomputer-readable media including memory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 1, illustrative computing system environment 100includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a computer100. Components of computer 100 may include, but are not limited to, aprocessing unit 120, a system memory 130, and a system bus 121 thatcouples various system components including system memory 130 toprocessing unit 120. System bus 121 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By wayof example, and not limitation, such architectures include IndustryStandard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus,Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA)local bus, Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) bus, and Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus, also known as Mezzanine bus.

Computer 100 typically includes a variety of computer-readable media.Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby computer 100 such as volatile, nonvolatile, removable, andnon-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation,computer-readable media may include computer-readable media andcommunication media. Computer-readable media are tangible media, and mayinclude volatile, nonvolatile, removable, and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage of information suchas computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data. For example, computer-readable media includes random-accessmemory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically-erasable programmableROM (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact-disc ROM(CD-ROM), digital video disc (DVD) or other optical disk storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to storethe desired information and which can accessed by computer 100.Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated datasignal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includesany information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example,and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as awired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such asacoustic, radio frequency (RF) (e.g., BLUETOOTH, WiFi, UWB), optical(e.g., infrared) and other wireless media. Any single computer-readablemedium, as well as any combination of multiple computer-readable media,are both intended to be included within the scope of the term“computer-readable medium” as described and claimed herein.

System memory 130 includes computer-readable storage media in the formof volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as ROM 131 and RAM 132. Abasic input/output system (BIOS) 133, containing the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within computer 100, suchas during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 131. RAM 132 typicallycontains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible toand/or presently being operated on by processing unit 120. By way ofexample, and not limitation, FIG. 1 illustrates software in the form ofcomputer-executable instructions, including operating system 134,application programs 135, other program modules 136, and program data137.

Computer 100 may also include other computer storage media. By way ofexample only, FIG. 1 illustrates a hard disk drive 141 that reads fromor writes to non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic diskdrive 151 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magneticdisk 152, and an optical disk drive 155 that reads from or writes to aremovable, nonvolatile optical disk 156 such as a CD-ROM, DVD, or otheroptical media. Other computer storage media that can be used in theillustrative operating environment include, but are not limited to,magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video tape, solidstate RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. Hard disk drive 141 istypically connected to system bus 121 through a non-removable memoryinterface such as an interface 140, and magnetic disk drive 151 andoptical disk drive 155 are typically connected to system bus 121 by aremovable memory interface, such as an interface 150.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed aboveand illustrated in FIG. 1 provide storage of computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data forcomputer 100. In FIG. 1, for example, hard disk drive 141 is illustratedas storing an operating system 144, application programs 145, otherprogram modules 146, and program data 147. Note that these componentscan either be the same as or different from operating system 134,application programs 135, other program modules 136, and program data137, respectively. Operating system 144, application programs 145, otherprogram modules 146, and program data 147 are assigned differentreference numbers in FIG. 1 to illustrate that they may be differentcopies. A user may enter commands and information into computer 100through input devices such as a keyboard 162 and a pointing device 161,commonly referred to as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Such pointingdevices may provide pressure information, providing not only a locationof input, but also the pressure exerted while clicking or touching thedevice. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone,joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These andother input devices are often coupled to processing unit 120 through auser input interface 160 that is coupled to system bus 121, but may beconnected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallelport, game port, universal serial bus (USB), or IEEE 1394 serial bus(FIREWIRE). A monitor 191 or other type of display device is alsocoupled to system bus 121 via an interface, such as a video interface190. Video interface 190 may have advanced 2D or 3D graphicscapabilities in addition to its own specialized processor and memory.

Computer 100 may also include a touch-sensitive device 165, such as adigitizer, to allow a user to provide input using a stylus 166.Touch-sensitive device 165 may either be integrated into monitor 191 oranother display device, or be part of a separate device, such as adigitizer pad. Computer 100 may also include other peripheral outputdevices such as speakers 197 and a printer 196, which may be connectedthrough an output peripheral interface 195.

Computer 100 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer180. Remote computer 180 may be a personal computer, a server, a router,a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described above relative tocomputer 100, although only a memory storage device 181 has beenillustrated in FIG. 1. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 1include a local area network (LAN) 171 and a wide area network (WAN)173, but may also or alternatively include other networks, such as theInternet. Such networking environments are commonplace in homes,offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, computer 100 is coupled toLAN 171 through a network interface or adapter 170. When used in a WANnetworking environment, computer 100 may include a modem 172 or anotherdevice for establishing communications over WAN 173, such as theInternet. Modem 172, which may be internal or external, may be connectedto system bus 121 via user input interface 160 or another appropriatemechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relativeto computer 100, or portions thereof, may be stored remotely such as inremote storage device 181. By way of example, and not limitation, FIG. 1illustrates remote application programs 182 as residing on memory device181. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areillustrative, and other means of establishing a communications linkbetween the computers may be used.

As discussed previously, touch-sensitive device 165 may be a deviceseparate from or part of and integrated with computer 100. In addition,any or all of the features, subsystems, and functions discussed inconnection with FIG. 1 may be included in, coupled to, or embodiedintegrally as part of, a tablet computer. For example, computer 100 maybe configured as a tablet computer or a handheld device such as a PDAwhere touch-sensitive device 165 would be considered the main userinterface. In such a configuration touch-sensitive device 165 may beconsidered to include computer 100. Tablet computers are well-known.Tablet computers interpret gestures input to touch-sensitive device 165using stylus 166 in order to manipulate data, enter text, createdrawings, and/or execute conventional computer application tasks such asspreadsheets, word processing programs, and the like. Input may not onlybe made by stylus 166, but also by other types of styli such as a humanfinger.

Electronic File System

An electronic file system may be implemented by computer 100 to managephotos and other objects stored in the various electronic media to whichcomputer 100 has access. The file system may be part of the otherprogram modules 136, such as a software application, and/or part ofoperating system 134. Using the electronic file system, the user mayinteract with the objects via, for instance, a graphical user interface.The graphical user interface may cause various visual features to bedisplayed on a display such as monitor 191. For example, the graphicaluser interface may include displayed representations of each object, orof a subset of the objects, stored by the electronic file system. Arepresentation may be any visual representation such as an icon or apicture. For example, where the object is a photo, a representation ofthe photo may be a thumbnail of the photo itself, or a graphical icon.

The graphical user interface may also respond to user input. The userinput may be received via any user input device such as mouse 161,digitizer 165 and stylus 166, and/or keyboard 162. In response to suchuser input, computer 100 interprets the input and determines anappropriate action, which may include adjusting what is displayed in thegraphical user interface. For example, where a representation isselected by the user, computer 100 may cause the graphical userinterface to visually indicate on monitor 191 that the representationhas been selected.

Photo Layouts

The user may also choose to view a selected set of representations, suchas photo representations. For instance, the user may open a folder ofphotos and wish to see the set of representations associated with thosephotos. Or, the user may perform a search for particular photos and wishto view the search results as a set of photo representations. Where aset of photo representations are to be viewed, they may be arranged inthe graphical user interface in accordance with a selected view. Theview may define any one or more aspects of how the representations arepresented on the graphical user interface. For example, without listingherein every possibility, the view may define how many representationsare displayed simultaneously, how representations may be groupedtogether and/or how many representations may be in each group, whetherthe representations are shown as two-dimensional representations (e.g.,a simple thumbnail) or three-dimensional representations (e.g., athumbnail photo shown at an angle), and/or the sizes of therepresentations. It will therefore be understood that many types ofviews may be provided, and that the particular views described hereinare merely illustrative.\

One example of a view is what is referred to herein as a mantel view, ormantel layout. The mantel view shows thumbnail representations of photosin a three-dimensional manner as though the thumbnails were photographsleaning up against a wall, such as on a fireplace mantel. An example ofthis is shown in FIG. 2, which shows three mantel view groups 201, 211,221. Group 201, for instance, contains four representations 202, 203,204, 205. Some of the representations overlap, such as representation204 overlapping representations 203 and 205, and some of therepresentations are shown at an angle, such as representation 205, whichis angled so as to appear as though it is being viewed from the rightinstead of “head on” (i.e., instead of at an angle normal to the photobeing represented). These effects may provide a layeredthree-dimensional appearance.

Another example of a view is what will be referred to herein as themagazine view or layout. The magazine view may be considered a subset ofa tiled view. In the magazine view, photo representations are arrangedin one or more groups such that each representation is displayed as atwo-dimensional thumbnail version of the photo with which it isassociated. At least some of the representations are of different sizesrelative to each other. One of the representations in each group may belarger than all of the others in that group such that the larger photoappears to the user as the main photo and the remaining photos appearsto the user a supporting photos. The photo that is the main photo in amagazine view may be randomly chosen or may be chosen based on photometadata, user preferences, and/or other factors. An example of amagazine view is shown in FIG. 7. Here, a magazine group 701 has fivephoto representations 702, 703, 704, 705, 706. In this example,representation 702 is the largest in group 701, representations 703 and704 are of medium size, representation 705 is of a smaller size, andrepresentation 706 is of the smallest size in group 701.

Photos (or photo representations) are grouped where they are arranged onthe display such that they appear as a group separated from adjacentphotos (or photo representations) that are not in the group by adistance that is larger than a distance between adjacent photos (orphoto representations) within the group. For instance, referring againto FIG. 2, the photos in group 201 are closer to each other than to thephotos in any of the other groups of FIG. 2. Additionally, each groupmay be bounded by a visible periphery encircling or otherwise disposedaround the group and/or some other displayed feature that visuallyseparates photos in a group from photos outside the group. For instance,in FIG. 2, a visible box 209, 219, 229 is drawn around each group 201,211, 221, respectively, making it clear to the user how the groups aredefined.

Selection and Zooming of Photos

Where the user is viewing a set of photo representations such as in FIG.2, the user may additionally wish to view the actual photo associatedwith one or more of the representations. For instance, the user mayselect any one of the photo representations, such as representation 223,using a mouse, stylus, or other user input device. In this case,representation 223 is a thumbnail representation of the photo with whichit is associated. In response to the user selection, the contentdisplayed in the group in which the selected representation resides (inthis case, group 221) zooms in. The zooming may be in a single step, ina plurality of sequential steps (with gradually increasing zoom level)or in a continuous fashion. In the latter two cases, the zooming inmultiple steps or continuously would be an animation of the contentdisplayed in group 221 to increase in size. In doing so, representation223 and/or its surrounding environment displayed in group 221 (includingrepresentations 222 and 224) may be animated to increase in size overtime.

An animation is the sequential visual presentation of a graphicalfeature (such as a photo representation, a set of photo representations,and/or a background) in a first state and in a different second state,as well as in at least a different third state presented in between thefirst and second states. For example, where a photo representationincreases or decreases in size from a start size to a end size, then therepresentation can be animated by visually presenting the representationnot only in the start and end sizes, but also in at least oneintermediate size greater than the start size and smaller than the endsize. In addition, the intermediate size(s) would be visually presentedat a time in between the visual presentation of the start and end sizes.The visual presentation of each state may be at sequentialnon-overlapping times or at sequential overlapping times.

A photo representation or other graphical feature may additionally beanimated to move in the display along a predetermined ornon-predetermined path. In such a case, the graphical element would bedisplayed in at least three locations along a path, such as at eachsequential incremented pixel location or other unit of movement alongthe path. The number of intermediate displayed positions/states along apath may depend upon the length of the path, the speed of movement alongthe path, and/or the desired smoothness of displayed movement. Forexample, a photo representation may be displayed at one hundreddifferent sequential intermediate positions along a path over a periodof several seconds to give the user the visual impression of smoothmovement along the path.

Thus, in response to user selection of a photo representation, the photorepresentation and/or other graphical features may animate in sizeand/or in location. For instance, referring to FIG. 3, which is ascreenshot taken at a time after FIG. 2, it can be seen that in responseto the user having selected photo representation 223, photorepresentation 223 has increased in size to an intermediate size. And,referring to FIG. 4, which is a screenshot taken at a time after FIG. 3,photo representation 223 has continued to increase in size to a largersize. Here, only three sizes of photo representation 223 are shown inthe animation illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. However, more than three totalsizes may be implemented to achieve a smoother animation.

It is also noted that other graphical features in group 221 may alsosimultaneously increase in size along with selected photo representation223. For instance, the remaining unselected photo representations 222and 224 may animate to increase in size simultaneously with photorepresentation 223. Also, the background, or interstitial region(s),between photo representations 222, 223, 224 may also increase in size.In addition, at least one of the photo representations are animated tomove to different locations. For instance, where the location of a photorepresentation is measured by its center, then photo representation 222can be considered to have moved up and to the left, and photorepresentation 224 can be considered to have moved up and to the right.By animating other features in addition to the selected representation223, this can give the user the impression of zooming in to thegraphical content of group 221. Also, where any one or more of thegraphical features of group 221 are increased in size or zoomed in, thefeatures may be cropped so as to extend up to, but not outside, boundary229 of group 221. This is shown, for example, in FIG. 3, where photorepresentations 222 and 224 extend up to, but not beyond, boundary 229.Such group boundary cropping may give the user the impression that theuser is looking through a frame defined by boundary 229 while thecontents of the frame are being zoomed in upon.

Thus far, in response to the user selection of photo representation 223,an animation has occurred as shown in FIGS. 2-4. FIG. 5 is a screenshotat a time after FIG. 4, showing how the previous graphical content ofgroup 221 is fading out, and a new graphical feature, photo 501, isfading in. Fading in and out is indicated in FIG. 5 by broken lines. Agraphical feature fades out when it gradually disappears over time byway of changing color, changing contrast, changing brightness, and/orchanging transparency. A graphical feature fades in when it graduallyappears over time by way of changing color, changing contrast, changingbrightness, and/or changing transparency.

In this example, all of the graphical features displayed in FIG. 4 ingroup 221 are fading out simultaneously with photo 501 fading in. Thissimultaneous fading out and fading in may appear to the user as thoughthe feature fading out is being replaced with the feature fading in.This is referred to as cross-fading.

In the present example, photo representations 222, 223, and 224, as wellas any other graphical features such as the background, which werepreviously displayed in group 221 in FIGS. 2-4, cross-fade with photo501. FIG. 6 shows a screenshot taken after the cross-fading hasfinished, which shows that photo 501 is displayed in full while photorepresentations 222, 223, and 224 are no longer displayed. Thecross-fading may occur while one or more features in group 201 (such asrepresentation 223) are still animating to increase in size. This mayprovide a very smooth appearance to the user. Or, the cross-fading mayoccur only after the animation to increase in size has ceased.

As previously mentioned, each photo representation 222, 223, 224 isassociated with a different photo. Here, the photo that cross-fades inor otherwise appears (photo 501) is associated with the selected photorepresentation (photo representation 223). If the user had selected adifferent representation, then an associated photo other than photo 501would have appeared in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Although photo representation 223 may be thumbnail version of photo 501that may be cropped and/or stretched, photo 501 as displayed in thescreenshot of FIG. 6 is shown in its entirety, without any cropping orstretching. This allows the user to see the entire associated photo whenselecting the photo's associated photo representation. Also, to maximizethe fit of photo 501 within boundary 229, photo 501 is sized andpositioned within boundary 229 so as to span across an entirety of thearea within boundary 229 in at least one direction (in this case, in theleft/right direction of FIG. 6). Because no stretching or cropping ofphoto 501 has occurred in this embodiment, there may be a space betweenone or two edges of photo 501 and boundary 229. In this case, there is aspace both immediately above and immediately below photo 501.Alternatively, photo 501 may be cropped or stretched as desired. In thatcase, photo 501 may be sized, cropped, and/or stretched so as to fullyfill the entire frame defined by boundary 229.

FIGS. 7-11 show a similar situation as FIGS. 2-6, except that the viewof photo representations is a magazine view instead of a mantle view.Again, the zooming/enlarging features as described herein may be appliedto any view having one or more displayed photo representations.Referring to FIG. 7, a magazine group 701 contains photo representations702, 703, 704, 705, and 706 and is visually defined by a visual boundaryF20. In the present example, the user selected photo representation 704.In response, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, photo representation 704animates to increase in size. Although in this example none of the otherphoto representations 702, 703, 705, or 706 increase in size, some orall of them may also increase in size simultaneously with photorepresentation 704.

Next, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, and also in response to the userselection of photo representation 704, photo 1001 (which is associatedwith selected photo representation 704), fades in while photorepresentations 702-706 fade out. In other words, a cross-fade occurs.As in the previous example, photo 1001 is shown in its entirety andspans in at least one direction (in this example, in the up/downdirection of FIG. 11) entirely across the frame defined by boundary F20.Again, photo 1001 is displayed without any cropping or stretching,unlike it associated photo representation 704.

In both the example of FIGS. 2-6 and the example of FIGS. 7-11, azooming-in followed by (or simultaneously with) a cross-fade has beendescribed to occur responsive to a user selection of a photorepresentation. However, in either example, the zooming may be removedsuch that only the cross-fading or other type of appearance of theassociated photo occurs. Also, in the previous examples, the associatedphoto has been described as spanning across, but remaining within, theboundary of the group in which the original photo representation wasdisplayed. However, the associated photo may alternatively be displayedto span in at least one direction across the entire physical display,across an entire window provided by the operating system or a softwareapplication, or across other defined region. Moreover, responsive touser selection of a photo representation, the visible boundary definingthe periphery of the group within which the photo representation residesmay expand or contract. In addition, the above responses to a userselection of a photo representation may occur while the user is browsinga set of photo representations manually, or during an automaticslideshow presentation.

Regardless of the particular view in which the photo representations aredisplayed and how the associated photo is displayed, the user may returnto the original photo representation view simply by selecting thedisplayed associated photo or by waiting a sufficient amount of time.For example, if the user is now at the screenshot of FIG. 6, havingalready selected photo representation 223, the user may now select(using a mouse, stylus, or other input device) photo 501. In response,the computer may return (either through animation, cross-fading, orinstantly) to the screen of FIG. 2. Alternatively, the computer maydetermine that the user has not selected photo 501 within a certainamount of time, in which case the computer may decide to automaticallyreturn to the screen of FIG. 2. The amount of time may be measured fromany point during or after the user input selection of photorepresentation 223. For example, the amount of time may be measuredstarting with the selection of photo representation 223, or it may bemeasured starting with the animation in response to the user selection,or it may be measured starting with the completion of the animation andcross-fading.

CONCLUSION

Thus, an improved way of browsing and viewing photos has been described,in which a user may conveniently select a photo representation, and inresponse a transition is presented such that the user sees the photorepresentation replaced with its associated entire photo without anyextra treatments. This may be important where the photo representationhas been treated, such as by cropping or stretching.

In discussing the above features, all actions involved, such as but notlimited to, receiving user input, responding to user input, selecting,choosing, assigning, defining, calculating, displaying, animating,fading in and out, storing information, and making decisions, may beperformed by the user and/or by computer 100 as instructed by softwareembodied as computer-executable instructions. The computer-executableinstructions may be stored on a computer-readable medium such as RAM132, ROM 131, and/or disk 156. The software may be part of operatingsystem 134, one or more application programs 135, and/or one or moreother program modules 136.

1. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructionsfor performing acts, comprising: displaying a plurality of thumbnailseach associated with a different photo; receiving a first user selectionof one of the thumbnails; and receiving a second user selection ofanother one of the thumbnails; and if the second user selection is notreceived within a specified threshold of time, then animating the firstuser selection to fade out, causing the plurality of thumbnails to fadein, and causing each of the plurality of thumbnails to reduce in sizeback to a size at which each of the plurality of thumbnails wasdisplayed when the first user selection was received.
 2. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the act of receiving afirst user selection includes animating the plurality of thumbnails toincrease in size, causing the plurality of thumbnails to fade out, andcausing an entirety of the photo associated with the first userselection of one of the thumbnails to fade in.
 3. The computer-readablemedium of claim 2, wherein the act of displaying includes displaying theplurality of thumbnails in a frame bounded by a visible periphery, andwherein the act of causing the entirety of the photo to fade in includesdisplaying the entirety of the photo associated with the selected one ofthe thumbnails so as to span across an entirety of the frame in at leastone direction.
 4. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein theact of displaying includes displaying the plurality of thumbnails on adisplay, and wherein the act of causing the entirety of the photo tofade in includes displaying the entirety of the photo associated withthe selected one of the thumbnails so as to span across an entirety ofthe display in at least one direction.
 5. The computer-readable mediumof claim 1, wherein the threshold of time is measured starting withselection of photo representation, starting with animation in responseto the second user selection, or starting with completion of animationand cross-fading.
 6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein ifa second user selection of the photo being displayed is received withina period of time after the photo has faded in, then in response to thesecond user selection, causing the photo to fade out, causing theplurality of thumbnails to fade in, and animating each of the pluralityof thumbnails to reduce in size back to a size at which each of theplurality of thumbnails was displayed when the first user selection wasreceived
 7. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the act ofdisplaying the plurality of thumbnails includes displaying the pluralityof thumbnails in a three-dimensional view.
 8. A computer-readable mediumstoring computer-executable instructions for performing acts,comprising: displaying concurrently a plurality of thumbnails eachassociated with a different photo, wherein each of the thumbnails is areduced version of a portion of the photo associated therewith;selecting one of the thumbnails; animating the plurality of thumbnailsto increase in size, causing the plurality of thumbnails to fade out,and causing an entirety of the photo associated with the selected one ofthe thumbnails to fade in; and in response to a period of time passing,animating the photo to fade out, causing the plurality of thumbnails tofade in, and causing each of the plurality of thumbnails to reduce insize.
 9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:receiving a user selection of the photo being displayed; responsive toreceiving the user selection, animating and cross-fading the photo andthe plurality of thumbnails, causing each of the plurality of thumbnailsto reduce in size.
 10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, whereinthe threshold of time is measured starting with selection of photorepresentation, starting with animation in response to the second userselection, or starting with completion of the animation andcross-fading.
 11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein theact of causing the plurality of thumbnails to fade out includes causingthe plurality of thumbnails to fade out while the plurality ofthumbnails are animating to increase in size.
 12. The computer-readablemedium of claim 8, wherein the act of displaying includes displaying theplurality of thumbnails in a frame bounded by a visible periphery, andwherein the act of causing the entirety of the photo to fade in includesdisplaying the entirety of the photo associated with the selected one ofthe thumbnails so as to span across an entirety of the frame in at leastone direction.
 13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein theact of displaying includes displaying the plurality of thumbnails on adisplay, and wherein the act of causing the entirety of the photo tofade in includes displaying the entirety of the photo associated withthe selected one of the thumbnails so as to span across an entirety ofthe display in at least one direction.
 14. A computer-readable mediumstoring computer-executable instructions for performing acts,comprising: displaying a plurality of thumbnails each associated with adifferent photo; receiving a first user selection of one of thethumbnails; animating the plurality of thumbnails to increase in size,causing the plurality of thumbnails to fade out, and causing an entiretyof the photo associated with the selected one of the thumbnails to fadein; receiving a second user selection of one of the thumbnails; and ifthe second user selection is not received within a threshold period oftime, then animating the photo to fade out, causing the plurality ofthumbnails to fade in, and causing each of the plurality of thumbnailsto reduce in size back to a size at which each of the plurality ofthumbnails was displayed when the first user selection was received. 15.The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising displayingthe plurality of thumbnails in a frame bounded by a visible periphery;and displaying the entirety of the photo associated with the selectedone of the thumbnails across an entirety of the frame.
 16. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising displaying theplurality of thumbnails on a display; and displaying the entirety of thephoto associated with the selected one of the thumbnails across anentirety of the display.
 17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14,wherein the act of displaying the plurality of thumbnails includesdisplaying the plurality of thumbnails in a three-dimensional view. 18.The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the threshold periodof time is measured starting with selection of photo representation,starting with animation in response to the second user selection, orstarting with completion of animation and cross-fading.
 19. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the act of animating theplurality of thumbnails to increase in size includes animating theinterstitial regions between the plurality of thumbnails to increase insize.
 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the act ofanimating the plurality of thumbnails to increase in size includesanimating the thumbnails to move to different locations.